Great American Scrapbooking Convention

I just made my hotel reservations for the Great American Scrapbooking (GASC) Convention in Chantilly, Virginia.  A wonderful passerby took this picture of me with my friend, Skinny Cow, last year.

(GASC) is slated for June 25 and 26, so my excitement level is through the roof. Online registration is supposed to start this month, which means I will be even MORE excited before all is said and done. I attended the convention last year and learned some incredible techniques. I am so totally ready for new classes, new techniques and a great vendor fair.

I have four overnight scrapbooking conventions on my calendar for this year: Stamp,Scrap, Art Tour in Oaks, PA on March26-27, GASC on June 25-26, Close to My Heart in Washington DC July 7-10 (for consultants only), and CKC at Valley Forge. Their registration opens April 21 at 1:00 PM EST.

But I'm not selfish, honest! When I return, I simply can't wait to share what I've learned with my friends. How exciting is that?

By the way! Speaking of sharing with friends, I finally purchased a web cam for my laptop computer. I made sure I got one with good picture quality so I can do online workshops. If you're game, let me know.

But now I must get serious about preparing for these conventions. Maybe 15 to 20 minutes a day on the eliptical will help me come up to speed for all the walking I'll be doing between workshops and at the vendor fairs . . . (Sigh, the sacrifices we must make. . .) In the meantime, have a blessed day. Maybe I'll get to see you there!

Great American Scrapbooking Convention

I am so totally excited! Yes I am. I have just uncovered evidence that the Great American Scrapbooking Convention will be in Chantilly, Virginia on June 25-26, 2010! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I'm so excited!

GASC: My Favorite Things

Kim van der Sanden of My Favorite Things (http://www.mftstamps.com/) knows her stuff well enough to improvise after she discovered that her class instruction sheets were on the kitchen table in California instead of with her in Virginia. Since she wasn't as together as she usually is when she teaches a workshop, she asked us each to stop by her booth for a free stamp. As fun as the technices were, I was more interested in learning about the Copic markers mentioned in the classroom blurb. Unfortunately, she did not touch on that. However, she did give me a mini lesson about these alcohol-based markers and their use. These two 8" x 8" pages lack the bling I normally add, but I may punch them up a bit when I'm ready to use them. Under the circumstances, it was a good workshop which I am glad I took.

GASC: Expand It Techniques

SEI's Expand It -- Techniques was one of the first workshops I took at the Great American Scrapbooking Convention on Friday morning. Until the Stamps By Judith and Heather, it was my favorite workshop. We literally made a mini album from a single sheet of cardstock which we scored and creatively fold and adhered it to the design. The second piece was a pop-out design using creative folds for pictures and journaling. These are definitely techniques that I can incorporate into my Close to My Heart project base. My last workshop was also an SEI invention. It was a stamping in albums techniques workshop and the poorest of the five I took that weekend. Although it was billed as a stamping techniques workshop, we were told that the SEI bosses said they couldn't afford to have stamps available for every person. A fast-paced workshop in which participants were expected to complete 20 12"x12" scrapbook pages in 2 hours, there was much scrambling and little learning. The emphasis was on finishing pages rather than learning techniques. So, SEI earned high marks for the technique-driven workshop and low marks for the productivity-driven workshop. The half-done scrapbooking kit remains in a box in my craftroom. With so many projects on my plate, I have no idea when and if I'll return to it.

GASC: Paradise Found

Paradise Lost is one of the workshops I took at the Great American Scrapbooking Convention in Chantilly, Virignia at the end of June. This was a Quick Quotes kit with punch outs and paste downs. We made the suitcase book with what was left over. I took the workshop thinking that perhaps it would augment a scrapbook I'm trying to put together for our missions hosts in Trinidad and Tobago, but the colors don't compliment the pages I've already created with my Moon Doggie papers from Close To My Heart. We were limited by some of the products we could use, and the pace we had to maintain to complete the three pages in a one-hour workshop. My favorite effect was the chipbard sandals with the ribbon treatment. I also thought the suitcase mini book was rather cute and reproducable, but I don't think the protruding palm tree would hold up in a active household. All things said, it was a productive workshop which I'm glad I took.

Great American Scrapbooking Convention

The last weekend of June I got to enjoy two incredible days with my son, his wife, our grandbaby, and regional scrapbooking artists who attended the Great American Scrapbooking Convention in Chantilly, Virginia. One of my favorites was an Interactive Stamping workshops from Stamps By Judith (http://www.stampsbyjudith.com/). The above 12"x12" scrapbook page was created wth a solid heart stamp (for the butterflies and ladybugs), a solid flower, a snowflake, mini dots, a haypile, a sprig and a stick weed. We started by tearing a piece of paper in an irregular shape leaving a ragged edge. Then we placed it over the bottom of the cardstack and stamped off the edge of the torn paper. I loved the artistic approach. The cards were equally challenging and artistic. Of course, I did have to purchase some of their stamps . . . mainly the ones that we used in the workshop.I hope I have the chance to take another of Heather's workshops in the future. My husband just reminded me that it's time to retire for the evening, so I'll try to share more tomorrow. Have a great day.

Diane